Letter from Dutchess County Executive William R. Steinhaus for publication in the Sept/Oct 2008 issue of Dutchess Magazine

This time next year we will be celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson River – also known as the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial. This celebration is a very special opportunity to spotlight Dutchess County to visitors from all over the world who will be joining us for this historical occasion.

We anticipate the Quadricentennial celebration to have an enormous regional impact with tremendous exposure from national and international media. The expected influx of tourists for the various events and activities is expected to be a major economic boost to Dutchess County. That is why we were the 1st county in the region to allocate funding specifically for the celebration and a dedicated workgroup to focus on planning and event coordination. I earmarked $100,000 in the 2008 budget for the promotion and development of the 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial because we know this is an investment with an exponential rate of return. Our organizational workgroup represents county government, tourism, history, municipalities, colleges, education, businesses and others, and is working to coordinate Dutchess County’s role in this historical celebration. 

There are a lot of great ideas and plans already in the works and still more to be formulated.  Plans and ideas for the actual celebration include school and community projects, art exhibits, river parades and more.   We are also advancing our work plan to create “legacy projects” – events or projects that will have an effect for years to come. The Quadricentennial is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our past, but it is also a rare opportunity to add something special to our future.

The highlight of the state-wide Quadricentennial celebration will be the planned opening of the Walkway over the Hudson, the world’s largest pedestrian walkway. Dutchess County Government is working aggressively to create a link from our own Dutchess Rail Trail to the Walkway Over the Hudson through the acquisition and development of a portion of abandoned CSX railroad property in the Town and City of Poughkeepsie so we can form a spectacular continuous link extending from East Fishkill all the way up to New Paltz. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Dutchess Rail Trail (DRT), it is our 12 mile multi-use linear county park that, when complete, will run through the middle of the County along the former Maybrook Rail corridor including the towns of Poughkeepsie, LaGrange, Wappinger and East Fishkill.

Projects such as the Dutchess Rail Trail and the Walkway Over the Hudson showcase to the world Dutchess County’s commitment to sustainability. Using abandoned rail lines and a railroad bridge to create something new and vibrant, demonstrates how we embrace the symbols of our past and use them to build upon for our future. Generations to come will be able to take advantage of these projects for recreational enjoyment as well as an alternative transportation mode. Future residents will still be enjoying these projects when they prepare the 500th celebration of Henry Hudson’s voyage!

This next year will be busy with planning and coordination activity as we work to ensure all of the projects and plans come together in a coordinated fashion so together we can showcase Dutchess County and the Hudson River Valley to the best possible advantage. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to display all of our county’s wonderful assets, our rich history and scenic beauty to visitors from all over the world will be coming to join this celebration. All eyes will be upon us and we look forward to celebrating with you as Dutchess County takes center stage!

 

About DCT | Advertise with Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Home (C) 2008 Dutchess County Tourism. All rights reserved. Dutchess County Tourism, Suite Q-17, 3 Neptune Rd., Poughkeepsie NY 12601 Tel: 845/463-4000 or 800/445-3131 The programs provided by this agency are partially funded by monies received from the County of Dutchess.